Redesigning the Delivery Experience for Argos, Habitat, and Tu
During a three-month project, I led the redesign of the delivery experience for Argos, Habitat, and Tu websites, focusing on delivering a seamless, user-friendly process across product categories such as digital downloads, clothing, small items, and large, two-man delivery items. The project involved extensive collaboration with product managers, engineers, and business analysts, using a phased rollout strategy to ensure a data-driven, user-centred design that could be incrementally improved.
Date: Q4 2020
Lead Product Designer: Alex Dawson
Problem Statement
The existing delivery experience posed significant challenges to users, including stock availability changes between the basket and delivery pages, confusing delivery options, errors during checkout and order confirmation, and page timeouts. Users often faced a lack of flexibility when trying to select multiple delivery slots for different items, and poor communication about split deliveries added to their frustrations. Although we considered adding free delivery or a subscription-based delivery model, these features were out of this project's scope.
Users and Audience
Argos has around 430 million website visits a year. Many of these purchases are for home delivery. Our target audience included:
Argos customers: Seeking a broad range of products from small items to large appliances.
Habitat customers: Primarily home furnishings shoppers with large-item delivery needs.
Tu customers: Fashion shoppers with an expectation for quick, reliable delivery.
The key pain points for these users included stock availability changes, delivery errors, and lack of clarity in communication about split deliveries.
Roles and Responsibilities
As Lead Product Designer, I was responsible for:
Conducting and analyzing 400 survey results, 12 card sort exercises, and a heuristic analysis of the current experience.
Reviewing 12 different competitors to gather industry insights.
Conducting 20 moderated usability tests to iterate on the designs.
Reviewing site analytics and Customer Service feedback from nearly 400,000 customers.
Producing an affinity map, empathy map, personas, and a journey map to inform the redesign.
Providing insights and recommendations based on data-driven research and user feedback.
Scope and Constraints
We faced time constraints with a tight three-month timeline and the complexity of designing a system that could handle everything from digital downloads to large furniture deliveries. Additional challenges included accounting for stock availability changes, page timeouts, and the ability to select multiple delivery slots for different products. Although users expressed interest in free delivery or subscription models, these were out of scope.
Process and What I Did
I approached the redesign using the Double Diamond process, broken into four key stages: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver.
Discover
Competitor Analysis
I reviewed 12 competitors, including major players like Amazon and John Lewis, to gather insights into how they handled delivery systems. This analysis identified gaps in our approach and opportunities to simplify delivery slot selection and enhance error messaging.Surveys and Usability Testing
I led the analysis of 400 survey responses, identifying key pain points like errors during checkout, stock changes between the basket and delivery pages, and page timeouts. I also conducted 20 moderated usability tests, iterating on prototypes to ensure the design aligned with user needs.Click and Heatmap Analysis
Heatmaps and clickmaps revealed where users were dropping off, particularly during delivery selection and checkout. This data confirmed that the current experience was too complex, especially for users trying to select multiple delivery slots for different products.
Define
Research Synthesis and Personas
I synthesized the data into an affinity map and empathy map, which helped us better understand user motivations and frustrations. From these insights, I developed personas representing our core user groups, such as budget-conscious shoppers and those needing delivery flexibility.Journey Mapping and Problem Framing
Using the personas, I created a journey map to visualize the key pain points and moments of friction throughout the delivery experience. The main issues we aimed to solve included handling out-of-stock items during checkout, reducing page timeouts, and making multiple delivery slots easier to manage.Hypothesis and Recommendations
Based on the research, I made recommendations to streamline the UI for delivery selection, enhance real-time stock updates, and improve error handling when out-of-stock items impacted the checkout process. I hypothesised that a simpler interface and real-time feedback on stock availability would significantly reduce user frustration and cart abandonment.
Develop
UI Design and Prototyping
I iterated on the designs, focusing on making the delivery process intuitive and error-resistant. The redesigned UI allowed users to select different delivery slots for multiple items while providing real-time updates on stock availability. For example:Argos: Digital downloads and small items had a simplified, pre-selected delivery slot to reduce errors during checkout.
Habitat: Large-item deliveries featured clearer messaging around split orders, and where possible, users were given the option to consolidate deliveries.
Addressing Errors and Stock Availability
One of the major challenges was addressing stock changes between the basket and delivery pages. I implemented a solution that provided real-time stock updates as users progressed through checkout, allowing them to adjust their orders without losing their selected delivery options. I also refined error messaging to be more actionable, guiding users through solutions instead of halting their progress.Moderated Usability Testing
During 20 moderated usability tests, we validated the improvements, focusing on how users handled multiple delivery slots and changes in stock. Feedback from these sessions allowed us to further iterate on the designs, particularly improving the clarity of delivery slot selection.
Deliver
Phased Rollout
The redesign was rolled out in phases, allowing us to gather feedback and optimize as we progressed:
Phase 1: Rolled out on Tu and for Tu’s clothing delivery through Argos
Phase 2: Focused on digital downloads, pre-orders and small items for Argos, along with small items for Habitat, where we ensured stock updates were clear and page timeouts were minimized.
Phase 3: Targeted large-item deliveries for Habitat and Argos, ensuring split deliveries were well communicated and reducing user confusion.
As part of the project I also made in-depth changes to the Basket, Checkout and Post-Order Confirmation pages, along with syncing updates to Email Communications.
Ongoing Optimization and Feedback
I reviewed lagging data from site analytics and Customer Service feedback from nearly 400,000 customers, which helped identify areas for continuous improvement. For example, we further optimized the checkout process to reduce page timeouts and refined the messaging around stock availability and split deliveries.
Outcomes and Lessons Learned
The redesign resulted in significant improvements:
20% increase in customer satisfaction: Users appreciated clearer communication around stock and delivery.
15% reduction in cart abandonment: By addressing stock availability changes and minimizing errors, users were more likely to complete their purchases.
10% increase in conversions: The ability to select multiple delivery slots and handle large-item deliveries more seamlessly led to higher conversion rates.
Through extensive research, testing, and collaboration, this project highlighted the importance of addressing technical challenges like real-time stock updates, as well as designing for flexibility in delivery options. The phased rollout allowed us to iterate and improve the experience incrementally, ensuring that both user and business goals were met across all three brands.